 |
| Team |
Red Bull |
| Nationality |
Scottish |
| Podiums |
61 |
| Points |
527 |
| Grand Prix entered |
229 |
| World Championships |
0 |
| Wins |
13 |
| Pole Positions |
12 |
| Date of Birth |
27/03/1971 |
| Place of Birth |
Twynholm |
|
 |
He may be the oldest driver on the grid, but retirement is far from David Coulthard's mind as he heads into his 15th Formula 1 season.
His Red Bull Racing team is on the up, and drives such as his charge through the field in Bahrain last year proved that Coulthard remains an excellent racer.
Having become known as a solid number two alongside Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen at McLaren, Coulthard has enjoyed something of a renaissance since joining RBR in 2005.
He may not be a regular contender for victories these days, but Coulthard has played a pivotal role in driving the team forward.
DC has also become an off-track figurehead – spearheading drivers' campaigns for safety improvements, and speaking engagingly on numerous issues.
And if Red Bull can achieve its lofty ambitions for the coming years, Coulthard could still have a chance to add to his 13 grand prix wins.
Career log
Coulthard arrived in F1 in unhappy circumstances, being promoted from Williams' test seat to the race team following Ayrton Senna's death in May 1994.
After a shaky start, Coulthard was soon on team leader Damon Hill's pace, and was chosen for a 1995 drive over Nigel Mansell.
Illness and some clumsy errors marred his season, and Coulthard wasn't retained for 1996 – although he took his maiden win in Portugal before departing to join Hakkinen at McLaren.
The duo were initially evenly-matched, and it was Coulthard who scored the McLaren-Mercedes partnership's first victories in 1997.
However, when McLaren hit championship-winning form the following year, Hakkinen flourished and Coulthard found himself in a supporting role, where he would remain for most of the next seven seasons.
There were times when Coulthard had the upper hand over both Hakkinen and his successor Raikkonen.
For instance, as Hakkinen wound down towards retirement in 2001, Coulthard took the fight to Schumacher and finished a career-best second in the championship.
But McLaren was frustrated by Coulthard's inconsistency – wondering why he could beat Michael Schumacher one weekend, then struggle for confidence the next.
Although some expected DC to retire when replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya for 2005, he instead switched to the new Red Bull team.
RBR's fun-loving ethos was a breath of fresh air for DC after years of playing the corporate man at McLaren-Mercedes – and it showed both in his newly-bearded appearance and his reinvigorated driving.
Fourth place on the team's debut, ahead of both McLarens, was a remarkable start, and he also took the team's first ever podium at Monaco in 2006.
The early years
In 1989, Coulthard became the first ever recipient of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for British motorsport's finest young prospect.
He was already a karting and Formula Ford champion, and although his subsequent Formula Vauxhall season was disrupted by a broken leg, he went on to star in Formula 3 in 1991 – where he was narrowly beaten to the British title by Rubens Barrichello after a long tussle.
Formula 3000 then beckoned, and he became a regular frontrunner while also testing for Williams, before receiving his F1 call-up after Senna's fatal accident.
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